[CLOSED for now...]
Hi Folks,
I've been working on this concept for a while, and its time to bring it to CPF for your consideration. It is a very tough, small light based on a c-thread extension tube, and made mostly of copper otherwise. I have finalized the design, and put the final prototype through all sorts of testing, including giving it to my 4-year old as a bath toy!
About me and my policies:
I realize I'm new at flashlight design and sales. I have quite a bit of experience in electronics (ham radio and audio electronics / speakers) and in hobby manufacturing and sales. If you have heard of the Society for Creative Anachronism, I manufacture and supply most of the UHMW combat arrowheads out there. I've been doing this for about 12 years now. I have lots of repeat, satisfied customers - references on request.
True to the policies of the best CPF sellers, I will not take any funds until the product is ready, and will make right any problems. I hope to earn your trust.
About the flashlight:
This flashlight starts with a solid copper slug. On that, I reflow a copper sinkpad, and then the LED emitter. By itself, this heatsink can take direct drive from an 18650 for quite a few minutes through a Nichia 219.
The driver is wired up with 22g silver plated stranded mil-spec teflon wire, and encased in mil-spec structural epoxy filled with pharmacy grade zinc oxide for thermal transfer, then the whole pill is wrapped in copper tape.
This pill is friction fit into a copper tube and secured with more thermal epoxy. a TIR is mounted and secured with thermal epoxy, and a copper cap is fitted over the front with more thermal epoxy. Finally, this insert is pressed into the front of a Solarforce CR123 extension tube with approximately 1000 lbs of force and more thermal epoxy.
This is the result:
The parts:
I am completely open with this light. All parts are the highest quality that I could find and I will disclose everything.
Tube: Solarforce CR123 or 18650 extension
Copper tube and endcap: 3/4" Type M water supply pipe
Copper pill: 110 Copper Round Rod, ASTM B187
Driver: Kaidomain 4x7135 V2 LED Driver 1520mA 17mm. Other drivers are possible. I am running this one l/m/h with no memory, but other modes are possible. This driver has over-discharge protection (tested), but may not have reverse polarity protection. I see a diode, but I have not tested it yet! 2.5-4.5v, runs best with RCR123, 18350 or 18650. A CR123A will work fine but not drive it to full performance.
PCB: 16mm copper sinkpad sourced from vestureofblood (I will switch to 20mm as soon as my supply runs out)
LED: Nichia NVSL219AT-H1 4500K, 92 CRI, B10 Bin or Cree XM-L2, T5, 3C Tint (5000K) sourced from Illumination Supply (other LEDs can be used of course)
Hookup wire: 22 AWG stranded wire with 19 strands of silver plated oxygen free copper wire with teflon insulation.
Lens: 25 or 45 degree TIR (I'm looking into sourcing other beam shapes)
Thermal Epoxy: System 3 T-88 Structural Epoxy (Used to make airplanes and boats) filled 1:1 with pharmacy-grade zinc oxide powder.
Here is what you can do with it:
2x123 tube with 18650, clicky and clip; 1x123 tube with twisty G2 switch; 1x123 tube with shrouded clicky.
Quark AA and Solarforce L2M for size comparison
Of course it is waterproof....
Beamshots with 25 and 45 degree optics, Nichia 219. Though the wider lens specifies 45 degrees, it is all flood - think of is as a Mule. The narrow lens has good throw and decent side-spill.
Durability:
I have been EDCing the prototype for a while and inviting people to toss it around. I gave it to my 4-year old to use as a bath toy. I deliberately abused the light and put it on film here for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0nXjWT0iq0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBqPmPZD3ZI
After all this, the battery is OK due to the protective battery gasket.
The Name:
So, I decided to call it the Copperhead for the obvious reason. Then I found out that there was another copperhead light made with pipe caps several years back! I hope there is not too much confusion.
The Deal:
I will be documenting the build of this run of lights as they are produced. I will make 4 N219 and 4 5k XML2 with the V2 drivers. I will sell these for $55 shipped to the US. If you are interested, please reply to this thread and I will put your name on a no-obligation list for the right of first refusal as they come off the line. I will program them all l/m/h with no memory, but if you would like a different program (clicky) I will contact you when it is time for programming for a non-refundable $10 deposit (to be applied to the final cost of the light of course). This is an introductory price and will likely increase for the next run.
If these prove to be popular, I would like to bring more optics, and higher rated drivers, since I think the heat sinking is more than adequate for the current amperage. I have run the prototype on high for more than 1/2 hour continuously unattended with no ill effects. It runs indefinitely on medium unattended (4.5h before the warning blinks using a Panasonic NCR-18650A). I may have missed something in this description, so please ask questions!
For Clarity:
$55 gets you what is in the first pic.
Add:
$5 for a basic solarforce switch (forward clicky)
$7 for a shrouded solarforce switch (forward clicky)
$7 for a basic solarforce switch (REVERSE clicky)
$9 for a shrouded sloarforce switch (REVERSE clicky)
$5 for an additional 123 tube to make it 18650 compatible
$5 for a solarforce clip
$2 for me to grind off the lanyard loop from the clip
$2 to upgrade to the HD bezel
Thanks, Dan Slone (schizeckinosy)
Hi Folks,
I've been working on this concept for a while, and its time to bring it to CPF for your consideration. It is a very tough, small light based on a c-thread extension tube, and made mostly of copper otherwise. I have finalized the design, and put the final prototype through all sorts of testing, including giving it to my 4-year old as a bath toy!
About me and my policies:
I realize I'm new at flashlight design and sales. I have quite a bit of experience in electronics (ham radio and audio electronics / speakers) and in hobby manufacturing and sales. If you have heard of the Society for Creative Anachronism, I manufacture and supply most of the UHMW combat arrowheads out there. I've been doing this for about 12 years now. I have lots of repeat, satisfied customers - references on request.
True to the policies of the best CPF sellers, I will not take any funds until the product is ready, and will make right any problems. I hope to earn your trust.
About the flashlight:
This flashlight starts with a solid copper slug. On that, I reflow a copper sinkpad, and then the LED emitter. By itself, this heatsink can take direct drive from an 18650 for quite a few minutes through a Nichia 219.
The driver is wired up with 22g silver plated stranded mil-spec teflon wire, and encased in mil-spec structural epoxy filled with pharmacy grade zinc oxide for thermal transfer, then the whole pill is wrapped in copper tape.
This pill is friction fit into a copper tube and secured with more thermal epoxy. a TIR is mounted and secured with thermal epoxy, and a copper cap is fitted over the front with more thermal epoxy. Finally, this insert is pressed into the front of a Solarforce CR123 extension tube with approximately 1000 lbs of force and more thermal epoxy.
This is the result:
The parts:
I am completely open with this light. All parts are the highest quality that I could find and I will disclose everything.
Tube: Solarforce CR123 or 18650 extension
Copper tube and endcap: 3/4" Type M water supply pipe
Copper pill: 110 Copper Round Rod, ASTM B187
Driver: Kaidomain 4x7135 V2 LED Driver 1520mA 17mm. Other drivers are possible. I am running this one l/m/h with no memory, but other modes are possible. This driver has over-discharge protection (tested), but may not have reverse polarity protection. I see a diode, but I have not tested it yet! 2.5-4.5v, runs best with RCR123, 18350 or 18650. A CR123A will work fine but not drive it to full performance.
PCB: 16mm copper sinkpad sourced from vestureofblood (I will switch to 20mm as soon as my supply runs out)
LED: Nichia NVSL219AT-H1 4500K, 92 CRI, B10 Bin or Cree XM-L2, T5, 3C Tint (5000K) sourced from Illumination Supply (other LEDs can be used of course)
Hookup wire: 22 AWG stranded wire with 19 strands of silver plated oxygen free copper wire with teflon insulation.
Lens: 25 or 45 degree TIR (I'm looking into sourcing other beam shapes)
Thermal Epoxy: System 3 T-88 Structural Epoxy (Used to make airplanes and boats) filled 1:1 with pharmacy-grade zinc oxide powder.
Here is what you can do with it:
2x123 tube with 18650, clicky and clip; 1x123 tube with twisty G2 switch; 1x123 tube with shrouded clicky.
Quark AA and Solarforce L2M for size comparison
Of course it is waterproof....
Beamshots with 25 and 45 degree optics, Nichia 219. Though the wider lens specifies 45 degrees, it is all flood - think of is as a Mule. The narrow lens has good throw and decent side-spill.
Durability:
I have been EDCing the prototype for a while and inviting people to toss it around. I gave it to my 4-year old to use as a bath toy. I deliberately abused the light and put it on film here for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0nXjWT0iq0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBqPmPZD3ZI
After all this, the battery is OK due to the protective battery gasket.
The Name:
So, I decided to call it the Copperhead for the obvious reason. Then I found out that there was another copperhead light made with pipe caps several years back! I hope there is not too much confusion.
The Deal:
I will be documenting the build of this run of lights as they are produced. I will make 4 N219 and 4 5k XML2 with the V2 drivers. I will sell these for $55 shipped to the US. If you are interested, please reply to this thread and I will put your name on a no-obligation list for the right of first refusal as they come off the line. I will program them all l/m/h with no memory, but if you would like a different program (clicky) I will contact you when it is time for programming for a non-refundable $10 deposit (to be applied to the final cost of the light of course). This is an introductory price and will likely increase for the next run.
If these prove to be popular, I would like to bring more optics, and higher rated drivers, since I think the heat sinking is more than adequate for the current amperage. I have run the prototype on high for more than 1/2 hour continuously unattended with no ill effects. It runs indefinitely on medium unattended (4.5h before the warning blinks using a Panasonic NCR-18650A). I may have missed something in this description, so please ask questions!
For Clarity:
$55 gets you what is in the first pic.
Add:
$5 for a basic solarforce switch (forward clicky)
$7 for a shrouded solarforce switch (forward clicky)
$7 for a basic solarforce switch (REVERSE clicky)
$9 for a shrouded sloarforce switch (REVERSE clicky)
$5 for an additional 123 tube to make it 18650 compatible
$5 for a solarforce clip
$2 for me to grind off the lanyard loop from the clip
$2 to upgrade to the HD bezel
Thanks, Dan Slone (schizeckinosy)
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